Welcome to the Painting Challenge. Here you will find the fabulous, fevered work from miniature painters from around the world. They are of every colour, gender, age and nationality, but all these people have at least two things in common: they love miniatures and they have all taken the Challenge.
This site features the current year's event along with archives of past Challenges.
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Wednesday, 28 December 2016

I get on the AHPC scoreboard with some 28mm fantasy barbarians from Vendel, which are now carried by Sgt. Major Miniatures.

While I would like to claim all twelve, the truth is that I started 8 of these figures before the beginning of the Challenge, so I can only count four, but I've forgotten which four they are. Thus, you get to see them all. My friend James and I have both been working on Lord of the Rings armies for some time, and we recently decided on Vendel as a cheap way of fleshing out our forces in addition to the pricier (and sometimes OOP Games Workshop LOTR line).

These figures, which Vendel calls "Hillmen", will stand in for the human enemies of Rohan, the wild men of Dunland: "All Isengard must be emptied; and Saruman has armed the wild hillmen and herd-folk of Dunland beyond the rivand these also he loosed upon us" (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers).With their fur capes and clothes, the Vendel figures seem ideal for the Dunlendings, who are clearly far below the Rohirrim in terms of civilization.

The Vendel figures are clunky and fairly simple sculpts, but they do paint up quickly and with some simple shading look good en masse. Here their boss Saruman looks on in approval as they march on Helm's Deep.

Using Dragon Rampant, the fantasy rules of choice for my gaming group, these can either be a 12 man unit of light archers, or two 6 man units - in DR I would give the Dunlendings the ability to skirmish and evade and treat them as rangers in terms of moving through rough terrain without penalty. I wouldn't rate them very highly otherwise - their main use for Isengard will be to locate, fix and harass the enemy while the Uruk Hai move into position for the kill.

Four 28mm figures gets me 20 points to get me on the scoreboard.Thanks for looking and blessings to your brushes!Michael the Mad Padre

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Great to have you aboard with us again, Padre!

These are excellent proxies for Dunlendings. Their fur cloaks (and the odd plain helm) really make them fit the part. I like that last shot of Saruman sending them off to steal lunches and push other kids into puddles. 20 points to mark your entry on the points roster, Michael. Well done.

This next entry is finishing up two regiments from the last two Challenges. This is eight ECW pikemen, four for my green regiment and four for the blue regiment.

Mostly Foundry but one Warlord.

My ECW regiments are made up of Warlord plastics. They are inexpensive and look good. I've also found that I like the plastic pikes as they are much less likely to draw blood in moments of carelessness.

The problem with the Warlord boxes is that they have horizontal pikes, which I hate. This means that I'm short the number I need for a full regiment. I, therefore, purchased some vertical pikes from Wargames Foundry to fill the lack.

All Foundry castings.

The Foundry models are just slightly smaller but not enough to notice. They are also much simpler so paint up more quickly. There are some weird spots on the faces and the hands but all in all, they do just fine for filling in the back ranks of the pike block.

The swords are also pretty badly cast. You can't see it well from this angle but from above they are something of a mess.

The blue regiment.

Here's the entire blue regiment, now complete. I clearly need to go in and super glue the sand mix down on the edge of some of these bases. I should also figure out how to make the flags less static.

The Green Regiment

The green regiment also complete. As I was taking the pictures I realized that one of the front rankers is missing his arms. It appears one the boys may have been playing with these.Now that these two are complete I can work on another regiment of foot during the Challenge. I also have 12 more horse which should find their way onto the table during the next three months.

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Those new recruits look excellent Aaron! Even though they are smaller castings, they seem to mix well with the Warlord figures. I like the washes you've used. It gives them some very nice gradation and definition. The group photos are wonderful - it's always great to see a pike block with its attendant sleeves of shotte!Well done!

Thankfully the Human team is finished, and I can get back to easier and more quickly painted miniatures.

First up is a set of 12 Sikh warriors painted up to be fighting in the North Africa theatre. Joining my Canadian forces that I have started to paint up earlier in the year and during last years competition.

I had picked this up from a local gaming convention in Hampshire for a song and a dance really. Since they were on clearance and then some. Cannot recall what brand they are ( Aztec or Artisan perhaps? ) but they are nicely sculpted.

I did try for a more khaki, toned down color scheme in comparison to the brightly colored Blood Bowl team just finished.

Then I went on to finish 2 more leaders for the Canadians as well. Probably not the right models or theatres for them, but they work all the same. Though I do have to say that the one on the right looks more Russian than anything else.. especially in these colors.. But it is ok for a gaming purposes :D

But considering all the changes to Bolt Action with Version 2, having more Lieutenants is never a bad thing! So they will get a lot of use I am sure!Easy section of 14 models here and 70 pts in total! Slow progress atm, but much more bigger batches to come very soon!

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Noice! Those Sikhs look terrific Kyle. I particularly like the grey whiskered fellas - they look like they've seen some campaigning and are ready to tune someone up. I believe the two leaders are from Artizan Designs. Great job on these models, especially the dashing 'stache on the chap on the right - a sort of Omar Sharif Canadian 'Russian' thing goin' on there. :)Great work Kyle!

Hoi Folks,So here's my first entry for this year's Challenge. Usually I try to do a bit more points worth of painting for each entry, but this year time is more spare than the last two years. This year I have two big projects I would like to get finished during the Challenge and several smaller ones. The figures presented here are part of my "big" Dark Ages project. Last year we found out that I am a big fan of the Vikings TV series and yes, mr Hirst has taken a lot of poetical license (for instance it was not Ragnar who entered Paris playing dead, but a different leader entering a city somewhere in Italy), but I just simply don't care! It's a nice story, more or less historically right and I like the essence of it. The plan is for me to create several Viking forces which can be used as small skirmish groups to fight each other but which can also combine to form a larger force to be used in Dux Brittaniarum for which I am also painting a Frankish force.

The miniatures shown here are for Lagertha's warband (hence the shields and yes again I know that warriors would probably have used tehir own specific livery) and the males are GB plastics while the females are Brother Vini resin casts. Actually the latter, along with a 4th figure already finished earlier, are the show pieces the BV guys had on their stand at Crisis 2015. I had pre-ordered some but they had forgotten to include them so I got their unpainted, ready-made showcase mini's.

Cheers Sander

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Welcome back to the Challenge Sander! Lovely work with these chaps. I love most of the stuff from Bother Vinni, though some of his models are a little too salacious for my tastes.

I really like how you've formed these into cohesive units while still allowing them individual personalities. I also really like the weathered and battle worn shields you've done for this unit - it really gives them a gritty, veteran attitude.

45 points for you, dear sir. I look forward the the upcoming war bands from this project.

Just a quick update and to keep me interested in the Challenge. Here are 8 trucks for my 10mm Spanish Civil War collection. Home life VERY busy at the moment so painting only when I really can. I am sure that is the same for many of us.

Firstly I do not know the manufacture as they were purchased second hand on eBay. They did come with a thick grey primer. So all I have been able to do is slap some colours on where they seem to be appropriate. 6 of them Are German Opel Blitz Trucks (I think Pendracken but am not sure.) while the two smaller "Light trucks" I just could not tell you.

Light trucks

Opel Blitz German trucks

But they will be generic trucks in ALL games.

3 More Opel's

this time in German colours

but that means nothing in SCW.

8 Trucks all together All general purpose and they may even get a re-paint when the challenge is over but I need them for an upcoming game so they will do for now. I hate rushing, but time is short on these and I need them "presentable" from 2-3' on the table for this weekend.

Hope Christmas and the new year are treating you all well.

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It's good that you're keeping your toes in, Clint. These trucks are great, and I'm sure will be valuable additions to your Spanish Civil War collection. I quite like the smaller scales as you can do a lot on a tabletop and the distances seem to 'fit' better.

I hope things slow down for you soon so you can get more time at your hobby desk.

Two bits..25 points...10 percent of last year's tally. However you want to say it, I have made it to the board.

My first offering this year is five savage orcs from Blacktree Design. I have been building an enormous army of orcs and goblins for years, originally for Warhammer Fantasy Battles but moreso these days for Dragon Rampant (and a foray into Kings of War).

I continue to experiment with my painting method (I've only been painting for 40 years) and this time have used Army Painter Greenskin as the base skin colour, highlighted with AP Goblin Green and AP Green Tone Ink. Weapons, clothing etc are painted with a variety of brands of paint but they are all washed with AP Strong Tone Ink.

I have meticulously recorded the paints used on 3x5 note cards so that I can try and achieve some consistency in painting. I find it easiest to paint in batches of five or so figures but like large units so need to understand what I did previously as it may be months (or years) before I finish units. Which is where this fine Challenge comes in, providing encouragement and focus.

BTW, the miniatures are much darker in real life, the booth lights have washed them out a bit.

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Welcome back to the asylum John (nurse Piper will sort out your meds)!

These orc archers look terrific. I like the detail on their bows and your groundwork is really nice. I'm glad I'm not the only one who still feels new to the hobby after several decades - always more to learn and things to experiment with. I use a small Moleskin notebook (gridlined) to keep paint 'recipes', sketches and maps. If I ever lost it I'd be hooped!

Hi everyone again! We are more than a year playing for a very interesting and gambling rules Simon Miller's "To the Strongest!". Now there is an active preparation February 25, when they host the World Championship by these rules. We decided on this day, too small to hold the tournament. So I finished my army republican Rome for this event.

As is known, the army commanded by republican Rome two consuls. And they're both ready to cast lots and find out who will give orders on this day (Aventine miniatures and Wargames factory miniatures).

Equtes romani (Crusader miniatures)

Triarii (Victrix)

Hastati\Principi (Crusader miniatures)

Velites (Victrix)

Heroes (Unknown manufacturer and Crusader miniatures)

Allied italics (Aventine mimiatures)

Allied Equtes (Aventine miniatures)

Allied general (Aventine miniatures)

General view:

I really enjoyed working with these miniatures. There were different manufacturers, but each had its own charm at work.Total:46 inf10 cav330 points

Well, a small spoiler of my next posts and my next unmade Army:

Thank you all for the inspiration and your excellent work!

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Hmm. Alex, I thoughtyou had mentioned in your first entry that you may not want to paint as quickly as last year, but instead take some time to smell the roses. Well, I guess that notion went out the window once the flag was dropped! This is a staggering output and I know there is still more to come. Amazing. Do you sleep?

Great work! I think my favoriteare the Triarii. They look like veterans who've seen a lot of hard campaigning. I also like the big chunky bases that Simon's rules encourage - they give the opportunity to make small dioramas.

Hey everyone, here goes my first steps into the Challenge. Thanks everyone for having me!

My main aim for the challenge is to get my Crusades period Muslim army up and going for Deus Vult. So, for my first submission, I present 12 Spearmen (Gripping Beast Plastics). I'll have 96 (hopefully) by the end, as well as 24 Archers and somewhere between 24 and 48 Cavalry or various sorts. I like the way this first batch turned out, I was getting nervous just before we started because I hadn't done any test models.

On top of that, there is a nice selection of casualty figures that I have to paint up and some Commanders. That has me set for my goal points (and some) but, I also plan on painting up the beginnings of a Men of Minas Tirith force for Dragon Rampant and a few other bits and bobs I have about the place.

Or at least, that's what I hope I can get around to painting. First 60 points down, more to go!

Once again Thanks for having me I hope I can post regularly.

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Another newcomer, excellent! Welcome to the Painting Challenge Aled!

These spearmen look very nice. I like the counterpoint of the coloured headgear and shields against the drab clothing. I also admire your grouped basing - it gives a nice diorama feel to the unit.

I look forward to seeing more of this army emerge from your paint desk Aled!